Pre-White House Dinner parties get stars

WASHINGTON, May 9 (UPI) -- A screening of "Poliwood" and two other gala Washington parties have set the stage for the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

The Friday night parties, leading up to Saturday night's dinner, included the showing of the new documentary from famed director Barry Levinson, which was filmed at last year's Democratic and Republican conventions and at President Barack Obama's February inauguration, the Washington publication The Hill reported.

The screening, held at Washington's Naval Heritage Museum, was hosted by the Creative Coalition and Capitol File magazine. Among the stars spotted at the event were Matthew Modine and Dana Delany, the Hill said.

Meanwhile, People magazine, Time magazine and CNN threw a cocktail party at the St. Regis Hotel while the Web site FunnyorDie.com put on a private bash at the L2 Lounge in Georgetown, the publication said.

Actor Kevin Bacon, rapper Ludacris, MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews, CNN personalities Wolf Blitzer, John King, Dana Bash, and Ed Henry, Bloomberg anchor Peter Cooke and NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell were reportedly spotted at the St. Regis.